Newsletter of the Association for the Study of Ethnicity and Nationalism
Spring 2012
Dear members and friends of ASEN, We are happy to present the Spring 2012 issue of The Ruritanian. In this issue you will read about the recent ASEN 2012 Annual Conference along with profiles of its co-chairs, and about our featured book, Ethnicity, Nationalism and Conflict in the South Caucasus by Ohannes Geukjian. Members will also read an article on nationalism and the rise of the far-right in Europe by Daphne Halikiopoulou and Sofia Vasilopoulou. You will also find a list of recently released or upcoming books and details of upcoming external conferences. As always, please let us know if you have any conferences or upcoming books of interest, or any comments or suggestions about the newsletter in general.
In this issue: • Ethnicity, Nationalism and
Conflict in the South Caucasus by Ohannes Geukjian • Nationalism in the News: Exclusion justified on civic terms – Nationalism and the rise of the far-right in Europe (MEMBERS ONLY) • ASEN Annual Conference 2012 Retrospective • Recent and upcoming books • External conferences • Member Profiles: Jennifer –The Newsletter Team Kimberly Jackson and Lina Zara Rabinovitch and Anastasia Voronkova, Co-Editors Molokotos-Liederman Aameer Patel, Associate Editor
Featured Book
Ethnicity, Nationalism and Conflict in the South Caucasus: Nagorno-Karabakh and the Legacy of Soviet Nationalities Policy by Ohannes Geukjian This book examines the underlying factors of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in the South Caucasus from 1905 to 1994, and explores the ways in which issues of ethnicity and nationalism contributed to the conflict. Geukjian examines the historiography and politics of the conflict, and the historical, territorial and ethnic dimensions which contributed to the dynamics of the war. The impact of Soviet policies and structures are also included, pinpointing how they contributed to the development of nationalism and the maintenance of national identities. The book firstly explores the historical development of the Armenian and Azerbaijani national identities and the overlapping claims to the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. Geukjian goes on to assess the historical link between ethnicity and territorial location as sources of ethnic identification and conflict. He examines how identity dif-
ASEN Events Spring 2012
ASEN (group)
ferences shaped the relations between Armenians and Azerbaijanis during the different phases of conflict and presents a detailed historical account of Soviet nationalities policy and ethno-territorial federalism – the basis of which ethnic relations were conducted between governing and minority nations in the south Caucasus. This invaluable book offers students and scholars of post-Soviet politics and society a unique insight into the causes and consequences of this long-standing conflict. Geukjian expertly analyses the history and development of the conflict, presenting both the Armenian and Azerbaijani perspectives, and highlights the Gorbachev era as the major factor precipitating open warfare between the two national groups.
–Robert O. Freedman, John Hopkins University, USA ASENevents (channel)
This newsletter contains the contributions from writers who are experts in their fields but whose views do not necessarily represent those of ASEN.
ASEN, London School of Economics (LSE), Houghton Street, London WC2A 2AE
asen.newsletter @lse.ac.uk 1
Recent and Upcoming Books Nationalism versus Globalism: A Prelude to the 21st Century Struggle Against Extermination Andrew Holden, March 2012, Ostara Publications
Autonomy and Ethnic Conflict in South and South-East Asia Edited by Rajat Ganguly, April 2012, Routledge
Communism, Nationalism and Ethnicity in Poland, 1944–1950 Michael Fleming, March 2012, Routledge
Imagining Russia: Making Feminist Sense of American Nationalism in U.S.–Russian Relations Kimberly A. Williams, April 2012, State University of New York Press
Peace Psychology in the Balkans: Dealing with a Violent Past while Building Peace Edited by Olivera Simic, Zala Volcic and Catherine R. Philpot, March 2012, Springer
The Scots in South Africa: Ethnicity, Identity, Gender and Race, 1772–1914 John M. MacKenzie and Nigel R. Dalziel, May 2012, Manchester University Press
Ethnicity and Gender in the Primary Education Textbooks: A Multicultural Perspective Yidnekachew Geremew Alemu, March 2012, LAP Lambert Academic Publishing
The Politics of Race and Ethnicity in the United States: Americanization, DeAmericanization, and Racialized Ethnic Groups Sherrow O. Pinder, May 2012, Palgrave Macmillan
The Politics of Ethnicity in Pakistan: The Baloch, Sindhi and Mohajir Ethnic Movements Farhan Hanif Siddiqi, April 2012, Routledge
Nationalism and the Moral Psychology of Community Bernard Yack, May 2012, The University of Chicago Press
Muscular Nationalism: Gender, Violence and Empire in India and Ireland, 1914–2004 Sikata Banerjee, April 2012, New York University Press
Irish Nationalists and the Making of the Irish Race Bruce Nelson, May 2012, Princeton University Press
The Origins of the French Nationalist Movement, 1886–1914 Robert Lynn Fuller, April 2012, McFarland & Company Inc.
Yoruba Traditions and African American Religious Nationalism Tracey Hucks and Charles Long, May 2012, University of New Mexico Press
Beyond Methodological Nationalism: Research Methodologies for Cross-Border Studies Edited by Anna Amelina, Devrimsel D. Nergiz, Thomas Faist and Nina Glick Schiller, April 2012, Routledge
Romantic Nationalism in Eastern Europe: Russian, Polish and Ukrainian Political Imaginations Serhiy Bilensky, May 2012, Stanford University Press
The 22nd annual ASEN conference was held on 27– 29 March 2012 at the LSE. The conference attracted more than 200 attendees who engaged with the theme “Nationalism, Ethnicity and Boundaries.” Well-attended keynote lectures by Rogers Brubaker, Michèle Lamont, Miguel Centeno, Mary Fulbrook, Richard Jenkins and Wendy Pullan were complemented by three popular workshops hosted by leading scholars in the field. In addition, 23 conference panel sessions featured over 80 papers covering diverse themes, such as symbolic and emotional boundaries, territory, migration and citizenship, social protest, conflict management, and language policies. Spring 2012
JENNIFER KIMBERLY JACKSON
ASEN Annual Conference 2012 Retrospective
Professor Rogers Brubaker delivering the Ernest Gellner Memorial Lecture on “Language, Religion and the Politics of Difference”
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External Conferences Minorities, Nations and Cultural Diversity: The Challenge of Non-Territorial Autonomy Queen’s University, Belfast, Northern Ireland, 9–10 November 2012 The European Centre for Minority Issues (Flensburg, Germany), jointly with the School of Politics, International Studies and Philosophy at Queen’s University Belfast, and the Department of Central and Eastern European Studies at the University of Glasgow call upon interested scholars to participate in a multidisciplinary conference on the challenges of Non Territorial Autonomy (NTA) in a world of nation-states. The aim of this conference is to examine in theory, empirically and through the work of legal practitioners, the challenges, and possible solutions offered by different models of NTA for the effective participation of minorities in public life. Non-Territorial autonomy takes variety of different forms, such as consociationalism and cultural autonomy, but also forms of representation that de-territorialises self-determination, as in the case of indigenous communities, the juridical autonomy as with religious communities, or in the practice of some models of multiculturalism. The conference is intended to address, among others, the following issues: • Can NTA serve the goals of European integration? Can such models be incorporated into the EU minority protection framework? • Does NTA help resolve protracted territorial conflicts? Examples include, but are not limited to Bosnia, Kurdistan and Israel/ Palestine. • What are the limits or possibilities of implementing NTA models in liberal democracies? • Can NTA models rejuvenate multiculturalism? • What are the opportunities for indigenous self-determination within the NTA framework? Applicants should submit a 300 word abstract and a short biographic statement (maximum 300 words) indicating institutional affiliation online: www.conferencepro.eu/nta The deadline for the submission of paper proposals is Friday 21 September 2012. The proceedings of the conference will be published in an edited volume. Spring 2012
Images of the Other in Central and Eastern Europe. Continuity and change in mutual perceptions between 1968 and 1989 German Historical Institute, Warsaw, Poland, 15–17 November 2012 The conference is intended to address, among others, the following issues: • What impact did the modernisation phenomena (such as changes in values, urbanisation, spreading of education, etc.) have on the worldview of individuals and societies? • How do people compare their own life conditions to those of other individuals or groups within their own society? • What relation could be observed between people’s own experiences with other countries’s citizens and those specified in the state-issued guidelines regulating the officially desired “Images of Others?” • How significant were positive, negative or neutral stereotypes – including those from before 1945 – in perception of “others,” especially coming from other nations? • What impact did personal experiences abroad have on people’s life back home and on their relationships with other society groups? • To what extent was the perception of a common European ‘destiny’ during the Cold War of relevance to individual and collective identities? • Did the common experience of life under a dictatorship create some kind of special empathy among the societies in the Soviet sphere of influence? • In what ways did the realities of dictatorships in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe influence the way their citizens were perceived in the West? Proposals should be sent by June 15 2012, to the following address: neighbours@dhi.waw.pl Abstracts should include a summary of the topic and the planned methodology, as well as a brief biography (up to 1.5 pages). Please include information regarding your active and passive knowledge of foreign languages. The organisers intend to produce a post-conference publication.
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Member Profiles This issue we speak to the co-chairs of the 2012 ASEN Conference, Jennifer Kimberly Jackson and Lina Molokotos-Liederman. What is your name and where are you from? My name is Jennifer Kimberly Jackson and I’m from Ottawa, Ontario in Canada. What are you currently studying/researching? I’m currently an Ad Astra PhD Candidate with the Institute of Global Irish Studies and the School of Politics and International Relations at University College Dublin (UCD). The title of my PhD is Social and Symbolic ethnic boundaries: Youth perspectives from contemporary Northern Ireland and Quebec. What led you to study nationalism? I began studying nationalism during my Master’s in Nationalism and Ethno-communal Conflict at UCD which I began in 2008. I was interested in the course because after moving to Ireland, I noticed that there were several interesting comparisons between the rise of nationalism in Quebec and in Ireland. I wanted to learn more about the Irish case and the Master’s programme seemed like a perfect place to explore it in more detail. I have been working on this comparison between Canada and Ireland and studying at UCD ever since! What do you plan to do after your PhD? After my PhD, I would like to get a job – anywhere! Although I would love to stay in academia, I recognise that this is a competitive career path. Nonetheless, I will try to secure a postdoctoral position, or perhaps a lectureship somewhere in Ireland, the UK or Canada once I complete my PhD in September 2013. If you ruled the UK for a day and could implement any change or new policy, what would it be? If I ruled the UK for a day, I would look to implement policies that would encourage the proliferation of more integrated schools in Northern Ireland. Integrated schooling has a massive impact on a young person’s enthusiasm for overcoming communal divisions. Attitudinal survey data from the Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey (2001) demonstrates that support for increased rates of integrated schooling are high, but nonetheless, growth in this area has been impeded by a lack of finances and policy incentives from Stormont and Westminster. Spring 2012
What is your favourite place in London? My favourite place in London is the ASEN office at the LSE! It is where I spend most (if not all) of my time when I am over visiting London, and I love working there. Everyone involved in ASEN is so interesting and you never know who is going to roll through the door for a chat. What are your thoughts on the rise of extreme right parties across Europe? Extreme right politics across Europe is increasingly affecting mainstream political opinion. This trend is especially notable in Greece with the rise of Golden Dawn and also in France where Marine Le Pen, the leader of Front National won 17.9 per cent of the vote in the presidential election. Although these parties remain on the fringes, their increasing popularity with voters can encourage mainstream politicians to harden their political positions in order to sustain their own support bases. These parties stand for the tightening up of immigration policy and advance asylophobic and xenophobic positions. History teaches us that there is no room for this type of intolerance in Europe, but it also shows us that these trends are directly comparable to previous swells in far right politics. For an interesting comparison of far right discourses in the interwar and contemporary periods, check out the upcoming features section in Studies in Ethnicity and Nationalism (SEN) which features articles by Thomas Linehan and Aristotle Kalis on the French and German cases, respectively. 4
Member Profiles What is your name and where are you from? My name is Lina Molokotos-Liederman. I was born and raised in Athens, Greece, but completed all of my university studies in the USA, France and the UK. What are you currently studying/researching? My field of research is sociology of religion with a particular interest in religion and its intersections with migration, integration, education, social welfare and international humanitarian aid. What led you to study nationalism? I am particularly interested in the links between religion and national/ethnic identity, which led me to the study of nationalism and to ASEN! On a more personal level, I am particularly attached to the plight of minority groups living in a majority culture since my Greek family came from Istanbul, while my husband’s Jewish family came from Germany. What are your future plans? I completed my doctoral studies in Paris, France, and received my PhD in the sociology of religion in 2001. Since then I have been working as an independent researcher, author and editor on a project basis for universities and international non-profit organisations. I am also a translator with a special interest in translating for the social sciences, politics and international affairs (in French, English and Greek). If you ruled the UK for a day and could implement any change or new policy, what would it be? I would make the sun shine for 12 hours a day!
What is your favourite place in London? Walking my dog in Regent’s Park. What are your thoughts on the rise of extreme right parties across Europe? This is a very disturbing development reflecting the inability of all political parties to address the popular discontent and dissatisfaction among multiple layers of the social fabric over the mismanagement of the current economic crisis, against the backdrop of a wider social unease over immigration, demographic change and multiculturalism.
Members, raise your profile! Email us: Asen.Newsletter@lse.ac.uk
NATIONS AND
NATIONALISM Books available for review
Please visit bit.ly/nnbooks Or email nationsreview@lse.ac.uk Spring 2012
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